Global
warming will have a broad and devastating impact on California's
economy over the next century, according to a report released Thursday.

Roads
and bridges, the water supply, agriculture, public health and even
winter skiing all will be affected by global climate change, said the
report by University of California-Berkeley agricultural and resource
economics professors David Roland-Holst and Fredrich Kahrl.

ADVERTISEMENT

The
report said damage could reach many billions of dollars per year. In
real estate alone, up to $2.5 trillion of the state's $4 trillion worth
of homes and other buildings are at risk from rising sea levels,
wildfires and other extreme weather events occurring as the world gets
warmer, it said.

The 127-page report was funded by the nonprofit
Next 10 foundation that studies California's future and the
intersection of the economy and the environment.

This is the
first time a major academic institution has attempted to put a price
tag on the potential climate damage in California between now and the
year 2100, the researchers said.

In an interview, Roland-Holst
said that despite the staggering numbers, he didn't want his research
to be seen as a doomsday report.

"It's not Chicken Little. It is
a wake-up call," he said. "The estimates at the moment have a lot of
uncertainty, but we really have to take this seriously."